I thought I was an HFA, till I really looked back over the years and remembered all the nights I passed out, got so drunk I puked my guts out, said things that really ticked people off, embarrassed my family, my wife, and myself, etc.
Sure I had some money, a nice home, new cars and trucks, owned a nice business with several employees, but I was still just a drunk, who existed to drink, with varying intervals between drinks. I still always looked forward to the next outing to get drunk, and it seemed to dominate my mind even from the beginning. I wonder if I was really functional, or did I just live till the next drink, doing whatever I thought would look good at the time, to stroke my ego and try to overcome my total overall sense of inadequacy. Personally, I think I was a chronic alcoholic from the first drink, it just took some time before the first hospital I tried to detox in put that label on my file. Some might say I fuctioned so I could drink, and they'd be right.